From the Thousand Oaks Acorn
The city of Thousand Oaks will have a public hearing on developing the Rancho Potrero park area in Newbury Park on the south side of Lynn Road, opposite Via Andrea and Rancho Dos Vientos Drive, at 6 p.m. Tues., April 27 in the City Council chambers at the T.O. Civic Arts Plaza.
Plans for the area include a trail head for 30 cars and trailers, restrooms, a ride-in corral, a landscaped picnic grove, an outdoor classroom with benches, picnic tables, a native plant garden, 1.4 miles of new dirt trails and a 60person shaded picnic structure.
A conceptual plan has been approved by the National Park Service for changes to the adjacent Rancho Sierra Vista property to provide access to the picnic facility on Rancho Potrero land next door.
The changes include the expansion of an existing parking lot to add 27 spaces for vehicles and the addition of native landscaping surrounding the parking area.
Gated access to the picnic area, an unpaved maintenance road and a steel bridge to span a small creek would also be added.
The city’s proposal calls for expansion of the area’s boundaries in the Thousand Oaks General Plan to include 156 acres presently owned by the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority.
The area of influence by the city and park district would be expanded to include 326 acres of Rancho Potrero property with annexation, with 306 acres proposed to be zoned as open space. The 20acre Rancho Potrero Equestrian Center site is proposed to be zoned as public land.
Nearby residents expressed concerns about lights, amplified sound, traffic and other factors when the city originally proposed a 200-person pavilion and 100vehicle parking lot in the area. The city downsized the plan to what is currently proposed after listening to those residents.
The public is invited to speak at the hearing.
For more information, call Greg Smith at (805) 449-2329.
